Foldable crate for fruit and vegetables

Abstract: A folding case of polymeric material comprises two equal elements which can be coupled in a rapid way. Each element comprises a side wall of the case articulated, by means of film hinges, to a base panel and to two side panels suitable for defining, respectively, a half portion of the bottom wall and half portions of side folding walls of the case.

Description: The present invention relates to a folding case of polymeric material having a bottom wall and four side walls, particularly suitable for being used for transporting fruit and vegetables. The need for providing folding cases is well known in the sector of packaging and derives from the matter of fact that the transport should be avoided of empty cases in mutual stacked arrangement. An alternative to the folding cases consists in providing disposable cases of low-cost polymeric materials, to be used once only; such a solution is not acceptable nowadays above all from the viewpoint of environmental safeguard, in particular if one considers that only a portion of the material which constitutes such disposable cases is recycled. As regards the folding cases, already some solutions exist and are disclosed in patent applications EP-A-301 140, WO-A-90/12 738, AU-A-60 137/90 and in Italian Patent IT 1 086 100. Although they accomplish the purpose of providing a folding case, all of these solutions known from the prior art display some disadvantages which limit the use and the usefulness thereof. In particular, in such solutions known from the prior art, the following disadvantages can be observed: -- difficulty of giving the cases such dimensions as required by the market (external overall dimensions/internal capacity, presence of protrusions beyond the external contour, and so forth); -- difficulty of obtaining both expected configurations (i.e., the open/closed configuration); -- difficulty of assembly during the manufacturing step; -- the cases are not predisposed for being lifted by means of mechanical lifting devices; -- high investment costs for the molds, because the cases are constituted by a plurality of parts. EP-A-0 075 655 and US-A-4 235 345 disclose folding cases wherein the side walls consist of six separate parts linked to each other by means of six complex articulations. The high complexity of structure and assembling operations required for the said folding cases is therefore evident. On the other hand, EP-A-0 516 954 discloses the use of film hinges with articulating function in folding containers. However the folding containers disclosed in EP-A-0 516 954 can only be folded flat, as they do not comprise collapsible side walls. The purpose of the present invention is of overcoming said disadvantages, thanks to the fact that the case comprises two mutually equal elements linked to each other at the centre line of two mutually facing walls which can be folded by means of articulation hinges, with each element comprising a rigid side wall which is articulatedly linked, by means of respective film hinges, to a base panel which defines a portion of the bottom wall of the case and to two side panels which define portions of the folding walls. Thanks to such characteristics, one single mould having reduced size, for half case, is enough, with the investment costs for the molding equipment being thus considerably reduced. Furthermore, the presence of six film hinges in each case considerably simplifies the first case assembly, because it results that only both articulation hinges at the folding side walls have to be mechanically hooked. Further advantages of the case according to the present invention derive from the semplicity of opening/closing, absence of internal and external protrusions (optimal exploitation of available room during the transport, in both of case open/closed configurations), the flexibility of wall dimensioning and the reduced overall dimensions of the closed case (of the order of one sixth relatively to the open configuration). Further advantages and characteristics will be evident from the following disclosure in detail, supplied for merely non-limitative exemplifying purposes, by referring to the attached drawings, in which: -- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a case according to the present finding, in its open configuration; -- Figure 2 is a perspective view of the case of Figure 1 in its closed configuration; -- Figure 3 is a perspective view of the single element from which the case of Figure 1 is realized; -- Figures 4-5 are similar perspective views to Figure 3, which illustrate two modifications of the case according to the present finding; -- Figures 6-9 are perspective views which illustrate the steps of case folding in which, for the sake of clearness, one of the two elements which constitute the case is omitted; -- Figures 10-12 are cross-sectional views, in open configuration, of the elements which constitute the case, realized according to slightly different modifications; -- Figure 13 is a similar view to Figure 10, and illustrates two case stacking modality; -- Figure 14 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of a detail of Figure 6; and -- Figure 15 is a perspective view of the central element of the dismanteable hinge used in the case according to the present finding. Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 generally indicates a folding case for fruit and vegetables advantageously made of a polyolefinic material (polyethylene, polypropylene, or ethylene-propylene copolymers). In its open configuration illustrated in Figure 1, the case 10 displays a rectangular bottom wall 10a, two mutually facing side walls 10c arranged along the longer sides of the bottom wall 10a and two mutually facing walls 10c arranged along the shorter sides of the bottom wall 10a. The case 10 is constituted by two identical elements 12 (Figures 3-5) assembled with each other. Each element 12, manufactured, e.g., by traditional injection molding, or by total or partial molding by means of the "air mold" technology, displays an elongated rectangular panel 13 suitable for defining one of the side walls 10b of the case, onto which two panels, respectively indicated with 15 and 16, and having a substantially square shape, each of which is suitable for defining a half of the respective end wall 10c, are articulatedly linked by means of film hinges 14, obtained by molding. Onto the panel 13, a base panel 20 suitable for defining a half of the bottom wall 10a of the case is furthermore articulatedly linked by means of a third film hinge 18. As it is clearly illustrated in the drawings, the panels 13, 15, 16 and 18 which constitute each element 12 are provided with quadrangular lightening holes, and each of them displays a flat structure with "T"-shaped ribs (Figure 10); furthermore, embodiments with "C"-shaped ribs (Figure 11) and with hollow circular-cross-section rods realized by the "air mold" technology (Figure 12) are also envisaged. The side panel 13 displays furthermore a quadrangular, larger-size hole 21, suitable for acting as a handle of the case 10; in an analogous way, the panels 15 and 16 have, at respective edges 15a and 16a opposite to the film hinges 14, rectangular hollows 22 suitable for defining, together with the corresponding notches in the panels 15 and 16 of the complementary element 12, handles for case grasping. The panels 13 are furthermore provided, at their low side, with support feet 11 substantially arranged at the four corners of the case and provided with shoulders for allowing the cases to be stacked, i.e., superimposed, to each other, so as illustrated in Figure 13. The position of the feet 11 is such as to allow the forks of the lift trucks to be inserted. At its respective edge 15a, the panel 15 of the element 12 is provided with a pintle 24 of a mechanical hinge, bonded to the panel by glue bonding, or heat welding (either by hot blade, or ultra sounds), or integrally provided with the panel 15, by molding. The pintle 24 is constituted by a plurality of hook-shaped elements 24a, which centrally define a seat for a corresponding pivot 31 assembled onto the edge 16a of the panel 16. In the assembled configuration of the case illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the pintles 24 and the corresponding pivots of both elements 12 constitute mechanical hinges, indicated with the reference numeral (C), which allow the walls 10c of the case 10 to only collapse towards the interior of the case. In Figure 15, the central component of the hinge (C) is displayed, which comprises the coupled pivots 31 united by flat elements 31a having such a configuration as to prevent the end walls 10c to rotate towards the outside of the case. Referring to Figures 6 and 7, each panel 15 and 16 is provided with a wing 28 protruding towards the interior of the case and on which in the open configuration of the case a corresponding edge portion 20a of the base panel 20 perpendicular to the film hinge 18, comes to rest. On such a shoulder, as illustrated in Figure 14, also mechanical locator means are provided which consist of holes 30 on the wing 28, corresponding to coupling pins 32 provided on the lower face of the edge portion 20a of the base panel 20. The resting is also realized at an edge 20b of the base panel 20 opposite to the film hinge 18. According to as illustrated in Figure 3, the shoulder between the edges 20b is obtained at a recess 25 extending along half of said edge, and a protruding wing 26, also extending along half of said edge, and suitable for cooperating with the recess 25 of the opposite element 12, in order to realize a mechanical locator means for the panels 20 which constitute the bottom 10a of the case. Also a solution is envisaged, according to which rectangular teeth 35 are provided, which rest one on the recess 35a comprised between adjacent teeth (Figure 4); or, a solution is also envisaged according to which, in an analogous way, dove-tail teeth 36 are provided. For the first assembly of the case, it is enough that the operator mechanically couples, e.g., by elastic snap coupling, both hinges C of two mutually opposite elements 12; no further operations are necessary, and the case is ready for use. Figures 6-9 illustrate the folding operation of the case 10, from which, for the sake of clearness, one of both elements 12 is removed. In Figure 6, the beginning is displayed of the folding of the base panel 20, which rotates around the film hinge 18, until it comes to the folded configuration illustrated in Figure 7. Subsequently, the end walls 10c [i.e., panels 15 and 16 of Figures 8 and 9] are folded, with the minimal overall dimensions configuration illustrated in Figure 2 being obtained. Of course, the dimensions of the folding case can vary as a function of the use type; however, in order to comply with the European Standard "Europallet", manufacturing a case having, in plan, the size of 600 mm x 400 mm, with a height of 200 mm, is preferred.

Claims: Folding case of polymeric material, in particular for fruit and vegetables, of the type provided with a bottom wall, four side walls and articulation hinges, characterized in that the case comprises two mutually equal elements (12) linked to each other at the centre line of two mutually facing walls (10c) which can be folded by means of articulation hinges (C), with each element (12) comprising a rigid side wall (10b, 13) which is articulatedly linked, by means of respective film hinges (18, 14), to a base panel (20) which defines a portion of said bottom wall (10a) of the case and to two side panels (15, 16) which define portions of the folding walls (10c). Case according to claim 1, characterized in that the above said side panels (15, 16) display, on their lower side, locator means (28), suitable for cooperating with corresponding edge portions (20a) of the base panel (20). Case according to claim 2, characterized in that said locator means comprise folded wings (28) provided with holes (30) suitable for cooperating with corresponding coupling pins (32) integral with the end portion (20a) of the base panel (20), so as to keep it in its operating position, in the open configuration of the case. Case according to claim 2, characterized in that the base panels (20) display front edges (20b) provided with respective locator means (25, 26, 35, 36) suitable for allowing a shape coupling between the same edges, in the open configuration of the case. Case according to claim 4, characterized in that said locator means comprise, for each base panel (20), a wing (26) protruding from the front edge (20b) and placed adjacent to a recessed seat (25) suitable for getting coupled, in the open configuration of the case, with the corresponding wing (26) of the opposite base panel (20). Case according to claim 5, characterized in that the wing (26) and the recessed seat (25) of the front edge (20b) of each base panel (20) respectively extend along half-length of said edge. Case according to claim 4, characterized in that the above said locator means comprise, for each base panel (20), a plurality of teeth (35, 36) protruding from the front edge (20b) and suitable for getting coupled, in the open configuration of the case, with corresponding recessed seats (35a) interposed between the teeth of the opposite base panel (20). Case according to claim 1, characterized in that the articulation hinges (C) of the folding walls (10c) are assembled onto the side panels (15, 16) and display complementary portions (24, 26) which can be elastically snap coupled. Case according to claim 1, characterized in that the articulation hinges (C, 24, 26) of the folding walls (10c) are obtained by injection molding and are fastened to the side walls (15, 16) by glue bonding or heat welding. Case according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the side walls (10b, 13) are provided, at their lower edge, with support feet (11), so shaped as to enable the cases to be stably stacked over each other.

Inventors: ADDEO ANTONIO, BISCOTTI AURELIO, PARIS IVAN, ADDEO, ANTONIO, BISCOTTI, AURELIO, PARIS, IVAN
Applicants: HIMONT ITALIA, MONTELL ITALIA S.P.A.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B65D6
IPC codes: B65D6, B65D21, B65D85